


Still Learning How to Bend

by dancingsweetheart129



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tonight on: I cant' write fight scenes, protecting their baby, some danger, sweet boyfriends, this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 20:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18820519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingsweetheart129/pseuds/dancingsweetheart129
Summary: “Hey, cutie patootie,” Harley said, giving Peter’s backside a smack as he zipped up his jeans. Peter beamed up at him as he headed over to his own dresser to put on a different outfit, a tank top and a pair of black jeans.“Handsy today,” Peter said, flopping down onto their bed. He thought about making it, but he hated making their bed. It felt wrong.“I’m not going to get a lot of freedom to touch ya this weekend,” Harley said, shutting his dresser drawer. “Taking advantage of it now.”“You want to really take advantage of it?” Peter asked, raising a brow. Harley grinned at him, striding over to the bed and climbing up on it until he could take Peter’s face in his hands and lean closer and-“I feel I should warn you that Mrs. Stark and Miss Morgan are on their way up in the elevator.”Peter sighed.





	Still Learning How to Bend

**Author's Note:**

> I fell down a hole guys, sorry. Spoilers for Endgame if you haven't seen it, you've been warned.

Harley was fast asleep when Peter climbed in their bedroom window, snoring softly. It made Peter smile behind his mask.

Patrol had run late, he had a few different crimes he stopped and in a spectacular display of his physical abilities, he webbed onto a flag pole hanging off a building that broke and sent him falling into a dumpster, the flag falling on top of him as he groaned to himself.

“Pete?” Harley groaned, rolling over onto his back in the middle of the bed, closer to the window Peter was closing.

“Hey, Handsome,” Peter whispered, pretty needlessly since they lived on this floor alone, but he didn’t want Harley up so early. “Go back to sleep, it’s just me.” He leaned over the bed to give Harley a kiss, the other man’s eyes falling shut again.

“I’d love to,” He mumbled gruffly, shifting around to get comfortable. “But you smell pretty rank. ‘S what woke me up.”

“Oh, sorry,” Peter said, standing back up. “I’ll go shower.”

“Please do,” Harley said, rolling again to cuddle into Peter’s pillow.

Peter hurried into their bathroom, stripping out of his suit and turning the shower on.

“Hey, Karen, can you send this down to the lab and clean it?” Peter asked, tossing the suit in the laundry chute.

“Of course, Peter,” the AI said. “Anything else?”

“Is Harley asleep?”

Peter startled when the mirror he was inspecting his face in turned into a monitor where he could see Harley in their bed, snoring softly again. Peter smiled.

“He can fall asleep anywhere,” Peter rolled his eyes. “Thanks Karen.”

He hopped into the shower, letting the hot water wash the dumpster stink off of him. It worked his sore muscles until they were liquid, and he was ready to just crash because it was like 4 in the morning and that was not when he liked to be awake.

Once he was done, he toweled off and wrapped it around his waist and strode out to the bedroom. Harley was still asleep, diagonal across the bed, and Peter smiled as he grabbed a pair of boxers and slipped into them. He dropped the towel in the hamper and lifted up the blankets, sitting on the bit of bed that was still available on his side.

“Scoot over, Babe,” Peter said, nudging Harley away from his pillow.

“No,” Harley said, gripping the pillow tighter.

“Babe, you’re on my side, move,” Peter whined, pushing a bit harder. He could see Harley’s smile growing, the pain in the ass.

“Make me,” He said, and Peter chuckled. He could easily move Harley if he needed to, and the other man knew it, but instead Peter flopped down on top of him, his chest to Harley’s back, his face buried in the junction of the neck and his shoulder. “Spider monkey.” He huffed.

“You love it,” Peter said, nuzzling into his bare skin, feeling his stubble rub against his cheek. He continued on for a few minutes, just breathing in the smell of his boyfriend, their clean sheets, the faint smell of his shower, when suddenly Harley was trying to wiggle out from under him.

“You gaining weight?” He asked, trying to buck Peter off. “You feel heavier.”

“I don’t think I can gain weight,” Peter said, sitting up until he was only sitting on Harley’s ass, his thighs straddling his hips. “All muscle, babe.”

“Well its heavy,” Harley took advantage of the weight being off of him and bucked back enough to roll over, gripping Peter’s hips to keep him still. The younger man smiled down at him, taking in his messy hair and his barely open eyes.

“That mean you want to be on top?” Peter asked, wagging his brows. Harley laughed, tugging Peter until he was falling down to Harley’s side of the bed, flopping down with a huff.

“You wish,” He said, brushing some of Peter’s curls out of his eyes. “Maybe after you’ve gotten some sleep.”

Peter smiled, feeling exhaustion take over his body. He cuddled into Harley’s pillow, breathing in the scent of the other man and letting his eyes close.

“M’kay,” He mumbled, and he could feel Harley pulling him close and kissing his forehead before he was drifting into a slumber.

* * *

 

Peter woke up to an empty bed, and after seeing the alarm clock glowing in the darkened room, he was actually surprised he slept so long.

It was almost one in the afternoon, and granted it was Saturday and he didn’t have to work and neither did Harley, but that meant he had an hour to get the apartment ready for Morgan’s visit. Pepper had a conference in Massachusetts, and he and Harley offered to watch the girl for the weekend.

He hopped from bed and found a t-shirt on the floor. He didn’t bother to check if it was his, Harley was only an inch or two taller than him so they wore similar enough sizes. He hurried out to the kitchen and saw that Harley was standing there, typing away on his phone, eating a sandwich while his gun sat on the kitchen island.

“There is a ten-year-old coming over,” Peter said, grabbing the handgun and checking the safety on it before putting it in their junk drawer.

“A ten year old who can build a ray gun, relax,” Harley rolled his eyes, grabbing the gun out of the drawer again and setting it on the counter. “I’ll put it away after lunch. There’s a few sandwiches in the fridge for you.”

Peter smiled in spite of hating having the gun out and about. It meant Harley had gone down to the shooting range that morning while Peter slept, and he probably smelled like gunpowder because he didn’t look showered.

“What kept you last night?” Harley asked, pocketing his phone. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a baggy grey t-shirt, and Peter felt at ease. He knew that shirt, and it was incredibly soft to the touch, Harley wore it when Peter was feeling tired or overwhelmed and needed to not have his senses in overdrive. “Later than you usually get home.”

“People were just bad,” Peter sighed, finding the sandwiches in the fridge and pulling the plate out, picking up the top sandwich. “And then I webbed onto something not so stable and fell in a dumpster.”

“I thought you smelled pretty funky when you came home,” Harley scoffed, brushing crumbs off of his hands and leaning forward to kiss Peter on the cheek. He did smell like gunpowder. “You smell pretty nice and clean now.”

Harley nuzzled against his cheek, and Peter giggled as his stubble rubbed his skin.

“Well you smell like the shooting range,” Peter said, giving him a kiss on the cheek as he went to put his plate in the sink.

“I was just going to put this away and jump in the shower,” Harley said, grabbing his gun off of the counter.

“And maybe shave?” Peter asked. As much as he liked the stubble when he was feeling good, it was a lot when he was feeling overwhelmed. It also burned his thighs a lot.

“Sure thing, toots,” Harley winked at him as he vanished into the hallway, saying something to Karen as he went.

It was really nice having a place to be themselves. Harley was done with school now, he was 23, and Peter freshly 21. He’d been finishing school, but it didn’t feel very important anymore. They were living on one of the floors at Stark Industries, he worked with Pepper downstairs. Not that she was in a lot, she did most of her work from home.

The apartment was theirs though, with comfy furniture and geeky décor. There was a big artsy painting of spider man in their living room, as well as shelves for the lego models that Peter and Ned built.

And above him was Pepper and Tony’s apartment, and down the hall was the lab. He and Harley spent a lot of time in the lab, chit chatting with Friday and immersing themselves in the atmosphere that was made for their mentor.

If he was having a really hard time, he’d go sit on Tony’s fancy couch and watch some of his old footage. It was usually just Tony swearing as he got hit and shaky footage from a fight, but it was comforting to hear. Harley usually found him and carried him back down to bed once he’d fallen asleep.

“Hey, Karen, is there anything dangerous I need to put away before Morgan gets here?” Peter asked, finishing his second sandwich and going to put his own plate in the dishwasher.

“Nothing dangerous but I suspect there’s something out in your bedroom that you wouldn’t like Miss Morgan to see,” the AI responded, and Peter blinked.

He hurried into the bedroom and saw exactly what it was Karen was talking about, which was the new bottle of lube on Harley’s nightstand that they had yet to put away after buying. He grabbed it and tossed it in a drawer before cleaning up some of the clothes on his floor and tossing them in the hamper.

He dug through his dresser and hopped into a pair of jeans, ignoring the bathroom door as it opened and billowed steam out of it.

“Hey, cutie patootie,” Harley said, giving Peter’s backside a smack as he zipped up his jeans. Peter beamed up at him as he headed over to his own dresser to put on a different outfit, a tank top and a pair of black jeans.

“Handsy today,” Peter said, flopping down onto their bed. He thought about making it, but he hated making their bed. It felt wrong.

“I’m not going to get a lot of freedom to touch ya this weekend,” Harley said, shutting his dresser drawer. “Taking advantage of it now.”

“You want to really take advantage of it?” Peter asked, raising a brow. Harley grinned at him, striding over to the bed and climbing up on it until he could take Peter’s face in his hands and lean closer and-

“I feel I should warn you that Mrs. Stark and Miss Morgan are on their way up in the elevator.”

Peter sighed.

“Thank you, Karen,” he said, smiling sadly at Harley, who was laughing. “If we’re really quiet tonight, maybe.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Harley leaned forward again and kissed his forehead before getting off of the bed.

* * *

 

“Peter!” Morgan shouted as she ran off of the elevator to throw her arms around the younger man.

“Hey, Monkey,” Peter hugged her back before letting her go so she could hug Harley too.

“How are ya, love bug?” Harley asked, running his fingers through her hair.

“I’m good,” She said, taking a step back.

“Honey, go put your stuff in your room,” Pepper said, hands on her hips. Morgan nodded before hurrying off down the hall. “Thank you both for watching her this weekend.”

“It’s no problem, we love having her here,” Peter said, leaning against the kitchen table.

“I’ll be back late tomorrow, so please just keep her alive until then,” Pepper sighed, and Peter furrowed his brows.

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you on this conference, Pep?” He asked. He had tried to go with her, the conference was about a lot of the tech he was spearheading, but she insisted that she could go alone. But she had been working herself crazy as of late, and it was showing.

“I’m fine, Honey, promise,” Pepper said, stepping forward to kiss Peter on the forehead. “Just a lot going on.”

“If you want us to keep her for longer, please tell us,” Peter pleaded, and Harley nodded beside him.

“I know, I know,” Pepper agreed. “I’m okay for now. She’s just starting to edge into the difficult phase.”

“Go and enjoy yourself, okay? I know it’s work, but spend some time relaxing,” Peter insisted, and Pepper nodded as Morgan came running back into the kitchen.

“You be good, okay, Sweetie?” Pepper asked, opening her arms for a hug. Morgan hugged her and nodded, waving as she went to the elevator.

“Alright, Magoona, what do you want to do today?” Peter asked, and Morgan turned to him and smiled.

* * *

 

Morgan had helped Peter with his suit in the lab, tuning it up and making sure everything was in working order. Karen had alerted them around seven to dinner, which Harley had cooked, and the two of them hurried upstairs because Harley was an awesome cook.

After dinner and listening to Morgan talk about school, the three of them settled into the living room for a movie, the 10-year-old sandwiched between them on the couch, hogging the bowl of popcorn while they watched the new Star Wars movie.

“Why can they breathe on other planets?” Morgan asked, and Harley chuckled.

“Because it’s a movie, sweet pea,” He said, grabbing a handful of popcorn for himself.

“Well that’s dumb,” She said, scowling. It was Peter’s turn to laugh now, because she sounded so much like her Daddy. His laughing was cut short though when he felt something in his brain tingling.

“Pete?” Harley asked, looking at him over Morgan’s head.

Peter ignored him, the tingling getting more intense.

“Karen, pause the movie,” He called out, and the AI did as asked. He hopped off of the couch to look out the window, and his eyes widened at what he saw. “Karen, shields!”

The shields fell over the windows just in time for the missile to explode against them, shaking the building.

“Pete, what’s going on?” Harley asked, sitting up straight as Morgan cuddled into his side.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Peter shook his head, turning to the pair. “You two stay here, I’m going to find out.”

“Peter,” Harley called to him before he could rush out of the room.

“I’ll be careful, keep her safe,” Peter shouted as he ran towards the lab.

* * *

 

“Karen, get me Ned,” Peter said as he swung from the tower, listening to panicked people scream.

_“Peter?”_

“Ned, what the hell is going on?” He asked, avoiding the plane that flew by.

_“The news is saying terrorist attack but they don’t recognize the plane. Dr. Strange and Captain America are already out and about.”_

“Thanks, Ned, keep me updated,” Peter webbed onto a lamppost near where he could see Cap and Bucky running.

_“Let me get into the system, stay tuned.”_

“What’s happening?” He landed on the sidewalk, joining the two as they ran towards an explosion near a building.

“They’re looking for something,” Sam panted, his arms churning.

“How can you tell?”

“They’re going into buildings and looking around before blowing stuff up,” Bucky added. “The wizard is trying to cover the air, Rhodey’s on his way from upstate.”

“Keep the ground covered, I’m going up,” Peter webbed onto a building and swung up into the air, trying to see where Stephen was so he could help.

* * *

 

Harley watched the screen as Peter swung past the reporter, webbing onto a flagpole and heading up towards one of the planes. He webbed onto it and pulled as hard as he could, but it still pulled him off of his feet as it flew by.

“Why can’t we help?” Morgan asked, glaring up at Harley. He had repeatedly told her that they had it handled, and the two of them just had to stay put.

“Sorry, toots, Peter wants us to stay here,” Harley said, running his hand through her hair.

“Mr. Keener,” Karen asked, and Harley scowled at the ceiling.

“Yeah, K?” He asked, still not entirely sure where to look.

“Someone is attacking shields on the east wall,” She said. “Defenses are at 80 percent.”

Why would someone try so hard to get in the tower?

“K, put me through to Peter,” Harley said, sitting up straight. “And show me security footage.”

 _“Hey, Harls, I’ve got Ned with me so keep it PG,”_ Peter said over the speakers. Harley could hear the air swooshing around him as he swung.

“Pete, I’ve got missiles hitting the east wall two floors down,” Harley said, enlarging the image on the screen. “What’s going on?”

_“They’re looking for something. Authorities think they’re looking for a weapon or a specific hero. And they seem to know exactly what it looks like, whatever they’re looking for.”_

“Thanks, Ned,” Harley nodded, trying to get a closer look at who was shooting. He could feel the building shaking under the strain.

“Defenses at 73 percent.” Karen called out.

“They really want into the tower. I think they’re looking for something in here,” Harley shook his head.

 _“I’ll call it in to the others and get over as soon as I can,”_ Peter said, then Harley heard him grunt and hit pavement. He heard that noise more than enough.

“Keep on truckin’, babe,” Harley said, closing the connection and another missile hit the building.

“Defenses at 58 percent.”

“Not helping, K,” Harley scowled at the screen.

“What do we do?” Morgan asked, curling further into the couch, still just a little girl.

Harley frowned, thinking over their options. Defenses were failing, but they’d still have to get up the elevator to get to them.

“Karen, lockdown mode for this floor,” Harley called. The doors would at least lock and the elevator wouldn’t open unless someone could override it, like him or Peter or Pepper. “You stay right here, okay?”

Harley ran down the hall to their bedroom and searched for his gun. He could at least have some line of defense against any intruders if they even got into the building before Peter could get them out of the way.

It always bothered him just a little that Peter was the strong one. Not that he didn’t like having a superpowered boyfriend, but Harley was the man of the house growing up after his dad left, and he liked it that way. He liked protecting and taking care of others.

When he met Peter at Tony’s funeral, he was the strong one. He and Peter sat on the dock while the younger of the two sobbed his eyes out and Harley just rubbed his back and shoulder. When they became friends, he was older so he drove them around. When he had the overwhelming urge to kiss Peter all the time, he was the one who went to May Parker and asked her if she minded too terribly if he asked Peter out some time. She was quite pleased to be asked first.

Now it was Peter out protecting the city and Harley at home, protecting the little girl they both vowed to protect forever.

He strode back into the living room, gun in his hand as the building shook again.

“Why do you have a gun?” Morgan asked, hopping off of the couch.

“In case someone gets in the apartment,” Harley said, glancing at the news feed and over at the security cameras. Still no Peter.

“K, is Peter okay?” Harley asked, scowling at the reporter as she ran towards the explosions. Dumb t.v. reporters. They don’t have any common sense.

“Trying to stop more planes downtown with Dr. Strange,” She chirped. “Defenses at 37 percent.”

“What do we do if they get up here?” Morgan asked, eyes wide.

“You let me worry about that, Honey,” Harley said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Sure he had a gun, but what if there were more people.

The lab.

“Follow me, Toots,” he said, motioning for her to head down the hall with him. The end of the hall had the first floor of the lab, a set of stairs in them also leading up to Pepper and Tony’s old apartment, meaning they had a second way out and Harley’s other weapons.

“What’s in the lab?” She asked, looking at the row of three suits on the wall. Well two suits and a mannequin. Peter was wearing his iron suit.

Harley ignored her, heading for the far wall where he kept his things. Peter had laughed when they moved into this place together because Harley was coming from backwoods Tennessee and he had his hunting rifle. No hunting in the city.

“Do I get to shoot?” Morgan asked.

“Absolutely not,” Harley shook his head at her.

“You can’t handle everyone alone,” Morgan rolled her eyes and sat on the stool, and though Harley knew she was just being difficult, she had a point. If a group of people came in, he only had two hands and he only kept rifles and handguns. He didn’t have the arsenal of Winter Soldier.

“Defenses are breached, Mr. Keener,” Karen said, breaking through his fragile wall in his brain.

“Karen, shut up!” He called to the ceiling.

“She’s just warning you,” Morgan said, and of course the girl would jump to the AI’s defense, she grew up with Friday keeping an eye on her all the time.

“Morgan, please, I’m trying to think,” Harley said, glancing over his shoulder. He saw her at the computer screens, a news feed, Peter’s video feed, and the security feed pulled up in front of her.

“Mr. Keener, you have a call from Peter.”

_“How’s it going their Harles?”_

“They breached security, they’re in the building. I have our floor on lockdown,” Harley said, going over to see what it was Peter saw. Lots of planes, he was up on a rooftop.

_“I’m sorry, I keep trying to head your way but the planes keep coming.”_

“I’ve got it covered here, we’re bunkered down in the lab. I’ve got my stuff here to keep Morgan safe,” He said, but when his eyes caught the security footage, it was at least a dozen men with guns running in. He could fight, Peter and Tony had made sure of that, and he could shoot a gun. But he was one guy and a ten-year-old girl. “Honey, we’ve got a problem.”

_“What is it?”_

“There’s a dozen guys here,” Harley said. He didn’t say what he wanted to, that he wouldn’t be able to hold them all off if they got through. He didn’t want to scare Morgan.

But he saw Peter’s head swing around and look back at the tower across town and he knew the other man got his meaning.

_“Harley, in my top desk drawer at my work station, you’ll know when you see it. If you need it, use it.”_

Harley hurried over to the workbench that housed all of Peter’s junk and where he worked on his suit. He pulled open the top drawer and dug through the pictures and wires until he felt something distinctly geometric. He withdrew his hand and looked at it, and his stomach dropped.

“I don’t know how, Pete,” Harley shook his head.

_“Friday will walk you through it, okay? I have to go, stay safe. I love you, both of you.”_

“Love you too, Honey,” the corner of Harley’s lip quirked up, staring down at the suit, all of it fit into his hand. Pepper had given it to Peter, said she didn’t want it in the house anymore. She had her own, and having a spare just meant the possibility of her nosy daughter digging through the garage and finding it.

“Intruders are in the stairwell on the west end of the building. Lockdown is being breeched,” Karen warned in her still cheerful demeanor. Fucking chipper AI.

Harley took a deep breath and gripped the object sitting in his hand.

* * *

 

“What the hell do you mean you lost her?” Peter asked as he swung towards Stark Tower. He could see people climbing a ladder into a helicopter, one of them holding onto a wiggly little girl as she screamed.

_“Pete she tried to help me instead of just fucking listening and staying behind me. If I knew how to use this thing better I might have been able to grab her but I busted out one of my thrusters on my foot.”_

“I’m almost there, hang tight,” Peter said, webbing onto another building as he swung. “Ned, why do they want Morgan?”

_“From what I could find, they wanted her because she’s the Stark heir. They want weapons, Peter.”_

_“Bullshit she’s the Stark heir.”_ Harley scoffed, and Peter knew he was right, Pepper put it in her will that it would go to the two of them and Morgan in a three-way split, should the three of them want it.

“No time for arguments,” Peter rolled his eyes. “Ned, I need you to hack whatever you can and get them thrown off. Harls, get down to the street, I’m going in.”

_“Be careful, Sweetheart.”_

_“I’ll do what I can, sweetums.”_

“Ned, shut up,” Peter rolled his eyes as he webbed onto the helicopter and pulled himself up until he was close to the ladder.

“Spiderman!” Morgan yelled, and the man carrying her nearly let her go, causing her to scream and grab onto him.

“Let her go, she’s just a kid,” Peter said, electrowebbing the guy below them on the ladder, sending him into the side of the building where he would stay until someone came to arrest him. “She can’t help you.”

“Just taking orders, Spidey,” The man said, climbing another step. Peter swung towards them, kicking out until he could get the guy away from Morgan and snag her back. Peter watched him start to fall and webbed him to a wall too.

This would be easier if there weren’t so many of them.

“I’ve got you, kiddo, you’re okay,” Peter said, holding Morgan tight in his free arm as she cried. “I’ve got her, Harls.”

_“Thank God.”_

“On our way down,” Peter said, but before he could web them away, the helicopter started to fall. “Oh my God.”

Morgan screamed in his ear, then screamed again when the helicopter jerked and righted itself. Pain seared through Peter’s shoulder that was holding his webbing, his shoulder was for sure out of place.

“Ow, fuck!” He shouted, and Morgan was pulling away from his shoulder to look at him.

“Peter?” She asked.

_“Pete?”_

_“You alright, bro?”_

“My shoulder’s out of its socket, I can’t move,” Peter said, taking a deep breath. “Someone needs to come get her, anyone.”

He looked up as he saw someone sticking their head out of the helicopter to see if he was still holding on.

_“I can’t fly up there close enough, not with my thruster out still. Friday is repairing it but not fast enough.”_

The person disappeared and reappeared with a gun pointing down at them.

“How high can you get?” He asked, wrapping his arm tighter around Morgan, tucking her face into his shoulder.

_“Maybe halfway.”_

“It’ll have to do,” Peter said, turning his head to Morgan. “Sweetheart, you trust me?”

“Yeah,” She nodded, and Peter tried to keep his tears back. He never wanted this life for her. He didn’t even want it for Harley. He just wanted to protect them from harm, but harm weaseled its way into his life and his loved ones at every turn.

“Okay, Morgan,” Peter nuzzled his face into her hair. “Let go, Monkey. Harles, catch.”

He gripped her tight once more before letting her go completely and grabbing at his web line with both hands and swinging out of the way of the gunfire. He listened to Morgan scream as she fell, his breath hitching behind his mask.

_“Breathe, baby, I’ll catch her.”_

_“Pete, I got into their navigation, I’ll mess them up.”_

Peter took one more deep breath before swinging up into the helicopter, easily webbing up the few guys inside and sending the driver out into the open air and sticking him to the bottom of the helicopter. See how he likes it.

But now it was falling, and falling fast.

_“I’ve got her, babe.”_

_“Peter, you’re falling at an alarming rate. Might I suggest the parachute?”_

“I can just web out,” Peter said, leaping from the aircraft. “Wait, why didn’t you suggest the parachute when I had Morgan?”

_“Miss Stark is not equipped with one.”_

“You know what, Karen, sometimes Harley is right, you’re not helpful.”

_“Perhaps I need a tune up.”_

Peter webbed onto a lamppost and swung down to the sidewalk where Harley was crouched down with Morgan, hugging the crying girl as she clung to him and he kissed her forehead and whispered to her.

Harley held an arm out to him, and he gladly wrapped an arm around each of them as the helicopter crashed somewhere down the street.

* * *

 

Peter was sitting on the stool in their lab, taking some deep breaths. The picture on his desk, the one of he and Harley with Morgan on her first day of school, had a shattered frame now.

“Honey? Dr. Strange is here,” Harley said, poking his head into the lab. “Figured you’d want the whole briefing with him.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Peter nodded, tipping the glass out and taking the picture into his hands.

“You okay?” Harley asked, stepping into the mess of a lab, avoiding glass and metal. Peter finally looked up at him when his arm wrapped around his shoulder. His eyes watered as he gave him a sad smile. “What is it, Darlin’?”

“All I want is to keep you two safe, and I can’t even do that,” Peter shook his head, looking back down at the picture. Morgan’s smile was missing a tooth.

“Hey, no, you did what you had to,” Harley said, leaning against the workbench. “Besides, you’re not the only one here that wants to keep someone safe. I wish I could have stopped them so you didn’t hurt your shoulder.”

“It’s fine now-“

“But that’s not the point, Parker,” Harley said, rolling his eyes. “Honey, we protect each other. And Morgan. And we did that.”

“Yeah, but-“

“No buts,” Harley shook his head, grabbing Peter’s face in his hands. “We still have each other and we still have Morgan. That’s all that matters, okay?”

Harley leaned forward for a kiss, and Peter wanted nothing more than to be carried to bed and loved like every other time he came home from a dangerous mission. But then Karen reminded him that Dr. Strange, and now Captain America and the Winter Soldier, were waiting in the living room.

“I should meet with them,” Peter nodded.

“Good idea,” Harley hauled him to his feet and they started down the hall. “The construction company and clean-up crew will be here in the morning, so Morgan is packing her stuff. And I convinced Pepper to at least stay in Massachusetts until tomorrow.”

“Where are we going to stay?” Peter asked, and Harley smirked at him.

* * *

 

May jumped off of the couch to answer the door, praying that Peter was okay. The last thing she wanted was a SHIELD officer at her door telling her something horrible happened to her nephew.

But said nephew was standing at the door with his boyfriend and a 10 year old girl gripping onto him like a monkey, fast asleep. She sighed with relief and smiled as she motioned them in.

When Peter got his inheritance from Mr. Stark, he bought a bigger bed in his room. It turned out to be a good thing because that meant he and Ned could have more sleepovers, he could spread out and have space, plus way back when Harley took his virginity in that bed.

But now it was made neatly, with Harley laying on top of the covers on one side, playing with Morgan’s hair as she slept.

“Shower’s free,” Peter whispered, crawling into bed on the other side. He was glad to not smell all sweaty and superhero-y anymore. He leaned over to kiss Harley, who smelled less like sweat and more like his toothpaste.

Morgan was still in her clothes, having fallen asleep on the way over, and neither of them had the heart to wake her and get her into pajamas.

Hell, Harley wasn’t even in pajamas.

“I’m okay,” Harley nodded, rolling onto his side. “I don’t know how you do it every day.”

Peter glanced down at Morgan as she shifted in her sleep, Harley’s hand paused over where he was playing with her hair so she could adjust and settle. Her face was kind of dirty and puffy from all the crying she had done, and he knew he should wake her up and clean her up, but she was just so at peace.

“I wanted to give it up when Tony died,” Peter sighed, though he knew Harley remembered. “But I wanted a better world for her, and for you, and for any future family we may have.”

“Our future family?”

“Yeah,” Peter nodded, giving Morgan a kiss on her forehead. “You’d be a great Dad, Harls.”

“I don’t think so,” Harley shook his head, but his lip quirked up and he ran his fingers through Morgan’s hair again.

“I know so,” Peter leaned over to give him another kiss. “We should wake her up.”

“I’ll go get a washcloth,” Harley nodded, rolling out of bed and heading out the bedroom door.

Peter gently shook Morgan, whispering nicknames to her until she started to blink her eyes open.

“Hey, Monkey,” He whispered, watching her sit up and rub her eyes. “Hate to wake you, but you don’t want to sleep in jeans.”

“Harley-“

“I’m right here, Sugar,” Harley said as he strode into the room with a damp washcloth. He sat down beside her, running the cloth over her face until the dirt and tear tracks started to vanish. “There’s my angel.” He tapped her under her chin and she smiled a little.

“Let’s get that hair brushed,” Peter said, getting up and going to grab her hairbrush and a hair tie. “Go ahead and get changed, okay?”

“I need to brush my teeth,” She reminded them, and Harley chuckled at her as he ran a thumb over the apple of her cheek.

“I think you can skip tonight, Sugarplum,” He said, and she beamed up at him before going to her bag and digging for pajamas.

Harley and Peter waited on the bed for her, and once she was changed she flopped onto it between them. Peter started running a brush through her hair, and she whined.

“I’m sorry, Peanut, you’ve got some knots,” He said, trying to turn the brush so it didn’t catch the knots hard.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen, Harley,” She mumbled, looking down at her lap, Peter and Harley shared a look over her head, and Peter could swear he heard Harley’s heart breaking.

“It’s okay, Sweet Pea,” Harley said, leaning down to hug her. “I’m sorry we couldn’t keep you safe.”

“But you caught me,” She said, pulling back and staring up at him. “And you saved me,” she turned to look at Peter.

“Keep your head straight, Monkey,” He said, trying not to tug too hard on her hair. “And we’ll always do everything we can to save you. But while we’re apologizing, I’m sorry I had to drop you.”

“It’s okay,” She nodded. “Why were those guys trying to take me?”

Peter took a deep breath, passing the brush to Harley so he could brush the other side of her head.

“They wanted you because they wanted a way to make Daddy’s company make bad weapons,” Peter said, grabbing his half of her hair and beginning to braid it. He was just a boy when SI stopped building weapons, but he knew they were used by a lot of bad people. “They were bad people, and they thought by taking you, they could make us make weapons to get you back.”

“Blackmail,” She said with a nod, and Harley chuckled.

“That’s exactly what it is,” He said, setting the brush aside and beginning his own braid. Harley’s braids were always better, having grown up with a little sister, but Peter was improving.

“Thank you for saving me,” She said, leaning into Peter’s side. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too, Magoona,” Peter said, twisting the hair tie around the end of her braid. He leaned down to kiss the crown of her head.

“So much,” Harley nodded, doing the same to his braid. “I’ll go get my pajamas on and we can hit the sack.”

“Can we finish watching the movie?” Morgan asked, her big, brown eyes turning up to plead with Peter. Harley rolled his eyes. She always went for the softie.

“Sure thing, Peanut,” He said, leaning his forehead on hers.

* * *

 

Peter is lounging on the couch in May’s apartment, leaning back against the armrest with Harley sprawled on him, using his chest as a pillow. Neither of them slept well between Morgan’s tossing and turning and the nightmare she had that they had to talk to her about, they were both pretty exhausted. So Peter was just running his fingers through Harley’s sandy locks as they watched cartoons.

Someone knocked on the door with the power of Thor, and May rushed from the kitchen to answer it. She and Morgan were making pancakes for breakfast.

“Mom!”

Peter craned his neck back to see Pepper rushing in and dropping down to the floor to hug her daughter.

“Come on,” Peter said, nudging Harley, but the older man groaned.

“No,” He whined, nuzzling into Peter’s chest further.

“Pepper’s here, we should at least get up,” Peter sighed, as much as he didn’t want to get up either.

“I fought a dozen thugs yesterday, leave me alone,” Harley groaned. Peter took pity on him, because he was sore. Sure, he had the suit on, but he was still just human and not used to being shot at and punched.

“If you get up now, I’ll give you a massage later,” Peter said, and that got Harley to his feet. The younger smirked as he too got up. They went over to Pepper and Morgan just as the woman was kissing the side of her head.

“I’m okay, Mom, I promise,” she said, but Pepper didn’t seem to want to listen.

“We checked her over, Pep, she’s unharmed,” Peter said, and Pepper stood up to pull him into a hug.

“Thank you for taking care of my baby,” She mumbled, and Peter hugged her back.

“Of course, Pep,” He said, and she moved to hug Harley too.

“Mom, can we stay for breakfast? Auntie May is making pancakes,” Morgan asked, snuggling into Peter’s side. He hoisted her up into his arms like he did when she was little.

“Please stay, Pepper, we’d love to have you,” May said, and Pepper smiled at her.

“Sure, baby, we can stay,” She nodded.

So the five of them settled around the kitchen table, passing plates of pancakes and listening to Morgan recount the story of her big rescue to her cringing mom, and Harley grabbed Peter’s hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.

 

 


End file.
